15 Crimean Tatars have gone missing in the peninsula since Russia occupied Crimea in March 2014.

Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Dzhelialov said in an interview with Radio Svoboda, Censor.NET reports.

"Different numbers are voiced. Kyiv claims two dozen people, we tend to talk about a smaller number of those missing. A few of them were later found dead - Reshat Ametov and Edem Asanov... Some of them disappeared two years ago, but until now neither we nor relatives have any information on their whereabouts," he said.

"The number of those who in our opinion have been stolen is eight people. We believe that security forces are responsible for that. Firstly, their direct task is to ensure security, but we see no progress in investigations. In some cases, it seems like they are themselves involved. We have no other assumptions as to who else may be interested in the disappearance of Crimean Tatars," Dzhelialov said.

"The document released by Deputy Chief of the FSB in Crimea Ibrahimov reads plainly that the activists of the Crimean Tatar national movement have to undergo searches and arrests. In addition, during the questioning of many Crimean Tatars, the representatives of security forces directly threatened that they could "get lost" in case of refusal to cooperate. Thus, we conclude that security forces plan similar operations and are themselves involved in them," he said.

As previously reported, in March 2014 a "referendum" was held in Crimea under the control of Russian troops, the results of which were used by Russia as a precondition for its occupation of the peninsula.

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